Reborn
by Heir-to-the-throne
Summary: Kung Fu is dead, Shen is in control of Gongmen City, and the heroes of the valley are dead. But death cannot stop justice; it can only delay it.
1. Chapter I Voodoo

_Reborn_

_Dedicated to everybody who's got a bone to pick._

Disclaimer: I do not own Kung Fu Panda, or The Crow. The Crow is the property of James O'Barr, and Kung Fu Panda belongs to Dreamworks. I am not making any profit off of this story.

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><p><strong>Chapter I<strong>

_Voodoo_

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><p>Shen stood on his balcony, gazing out over Gongmen City. He smiled, turning back the clock to a full two years ago, when the city had been contested ground. He had waged war on the Masters' Council, that had taken to ruling in his stead. It had been a short, albeit destructive battle, ending ultimately in his victory. Really, it had been the hubris of the masters that had done them in. They had thought themselves invincible, and had, as a result, been killed in their attempt to resist him.<p>

And now, Shen sat in the heart of Gongmen City, China his for the taking.

And take he would, Shen thought. It was his birthright, long denied to him. The provinces to the south were those of farmers and fishermen, which could sustain his forces as they attended to the rest of China. The northern provinces were sure to put up something resembling a fight, but would ultimately kneel before him.

Shen turned his back on the city, and returned to his throne room. As he passed the original cannon, he paused, and looked at it. The cornerstone to his empire, he mused. The one thing that, without it, his dream of conquest would be just that. A dream. But, with it, it was a reality.

One that was very close at hand.

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><p>As twilight fell upon the world, the crow descended from the faintly lit sky, down to the riverbank below.<p>

It had flown far from the places where the dead loiter, counting the hours until they forgot what hours were, and in time themselves, until nothing remained but the stones marking their new homes and the skeletons that signified their presence. But even those pass in time.

The crow weaved between the old trees, driven by duty and purpose. With nothing that could be considered thought, but something greater still, the crow understood the immediate task that lay before it. It understood the terrible, nightmarish things that had to be done before it could return to it's clear, simplistic life.

The crow came to rest on the soft mud of the riverbank, and pecked at it softly. It folded it's wings, and the resurrection began.

So much damage had been done to the corpse in it's two years of death. Muscles had atrophied, skin withered, and flesh moldered in the mud. All things things the bird had to undo before the soul, the spirit, the animating fire of life, could be returned. And the crow, of all creatures, knew the secrets of these tasks, just as much as it knew the sweet, greasy taste of dead flesh.

The crow blinked it's weary eyes, and becked again at the riverbank, and then a third time.

Her world was void, save for the crushing weight of sorrow, and the burning brand of righteous anger. It was all she felt, all she knew. There was no light, and there was no dark. The rest she had long expected was not there.

She hated Shen. She hated what he had done, the things he was going to do, and she wept for those he had wronged. She wept for the deaths of her friends, and the death of Kung Fu. Shen had destroyed a way of life, and in her heart, she knew he had to pay. His wrongs had to be made right.

And then, through the mists of the land of the Dead, she heard the sound of flapping wings, and the cawing of a crow. And the sensation of emotion was overshadowed by an orgasmic swell of pain. She felt the world tighten and close in around her, the air (or whatever passed for it when one was dead) was replaced wtih a thick, dark mud.

The crow shuddered, giving up parts of itself in the regenerating process, caught in the dark and irreversable process it had started. It huddled on the riverbank, and felt it's life being drained to fuel these profane magics.

Muscles, not used in so long, burned and ached as she clawed her way up through the river-mud. The weight of the mud itself should have killed her again. But the strength of the Dead was greater than that of the living. She broke through the surface of the mud, gasping and flailing. One eye unable to open, she looked around wildly, until she saw the crow, pecking at the mud softly, and was calmed.

She crawled to the side of the river, and let out a silent scream. The entire left side of her face had been charred, leaving nothing but wilted, dead tissue, the fur burned away. She tentatively touched the malformed flesh, and felt no pain. She scraped at it, out of morbid curiosity, and a desire to be rid of the ugly mess. It fell away with ease, piling up at her knees.

Soon, almost all evidence of injury was gone, save for the blackened skin that encircled her eye, and the trio of scars, the middle longer than the two flanking it, that ran down her cheek in a vertical fashion. Beneath the burned flesh, there was short, pale, downy fur, that would eventually grow to match the rest, given time.

The feathered beast at her feet cawed, gaining her attention. The moment she looked at it , though, it took flight, heading further down river. A single word echoed within her skull.

_Follow_.

Almost on instinct, Tigress did so, walking slowly, stumbling often. The crow stayed close, never leaving her sight, often landing to wait for her. Soon, it came to rest on a post that sat outside a small shop, like many that dotted the rural landscape of China. She stepped forward, and moved to open the door. Locked.

The crow cawed insistently, and Tigress knew that something important was in the inn. Drawing her hand back, she splintered the door. Tigress reached through the hole, unlocked the door, and stepped inside.

The owner of the shop shouted something that Tigress didn't catch, and moved to apprehend her, knife in hand.

Tigress, not missing a beat, twisted the knife out of his hand, and brought him to his knees with a swift strike to his side, and with a brutal blow to his neck, she silenced him forever.

The crow landed on the counter, cawing and flapping it's wings.

_Here. The green one._

Tigress stepped behind the counter and looked in the box the crow had indicated. Inside was a number of rings, one of which was carved of green jade. She lifted it from the box, and was struck dumb by what appeared before her eyes.

_"I just need you to carve a ring that looks like this," Po said, pointing animatedly at the sheet of rice paper in his hands. The goat looked at him with dull eyes._

_"Yeah, ok. But, one question: who's it for?" the goat asked. "It's common practice to engrave it so..."_

_"...Can you keep a secret? I don't want her finding out just yet," Po said, looking a little nervous._

_"Yeah, sure, whatever. Just tell me," the goat said._

_"It's a gift for Master Tigress," Po said quietly, looking like he was expecting said tiger to drop in out of nowhere._

_The goat blinked. "Wow. Gifts already? Better not let the tabloids find out."_

_"Oh, what's the big deal?" Po said defensively. "It's just a ring!"_

_Po's world was one of noise and heat, as the harbour exploded. He felt his fur turn to ash as the force of the cannon-blast sent him hurtling from the factory, the force of which shattered his spine. The world, in an almost comedic moment of whiplash, went from loud and hot, to cold and silent._

_A soldier wearing the colors of Shen's empire, black and dark grey, with a red symbol emblazoned upon his armor, picked up the ring from the river shore, and held it up to the light for inspection. He smiled, and stuffed it into a pocket._

Tigress snapped back to reality, staring at the ring in abject shock. She looked over to the crow, as if to ask "you did that, didn't you?". The crow, in response to the unspoken question, took flight, soaring up into the rafters.

Without the crow showing her where to go, Tigress suddenly felt lost, dizzy. And, in that feeling of aimlessness, a horrible, shattering thought occurred to her:

She was dead.

She was dead, and she was living. Her heart, her Lazarus heart, beat, but her skin was cold like the grave.

In a sudden fit of manic rage, coupled with terror, she swung at the counter, spilling it's contents, save the mirror that stood just beyond her swing, to the floor. She turned to the mirror, her face twisted into a truly terrifying countentance, and swung her fist through the device. She withdrew her hand, now slashed open and bleeding, and watched as the glass was pushed out, the blood drawing back into the flesh from which it poured, and the wounds healed, flesh knitted.

Distracted from her wrathful frenzy, Tigress touched where she had been wounded thoughtfully, and then drew a single claw across the back of her hand, savoring the pain. It felt...real, in a sense. She watched passively as this wound closed as well, though it left a long scar, unlike the others.

There was a caw to her left, and she turned to see the crow flapping it's wings in displeasure. She glared at the bird.

"You did this, didn't you?" she asked, voice dry and raspy from disuse. The crow flapped it wings, in a way that reminded her of sarcastic clapping.

_Yes_, came the reverberating response.

"Why?" she said, asking the inevitable question.

_Justice. Vengeance. _

"Why me?" Tigress asked tiredly. It was so tempting, to just sink to her knees, and let it all fade away...

_You were chosen_.

Tigress laughed bitterly at that. "Destiny. There was a time that I craved it, desired it more than any other thing. And now, it's the one thing I want the least."

_You witnessed the deaths. You suffered their pain. Now you must avenge it._

"And if I say no?" Tigress asked defiantly. "What if I just say no, and make you choose one of the others?"

_Then you are damned, and your friends will know no rest. _

Tigress froze at that. She glared at the bird, outraged at what she perceived as the creature playing dirty.

"You're bluffing."

_Deluding yourself does not lessen the truth of my words._

"Why should I trust you?"

_Do you trust yourself?_

"How is that-"

_Do you?_

"Yes, now will you tell me-"

_Then you trust me_. _We are linked._

"You're a-" Tigress started.

"Oh, will you two _knock it off?_" a voice at the door drawled.

Tigress spun around, to see a figure garbed in all white,face obscured by a white cowl, leaning on the door frame. On instinct, she dropped into a defensive crouch.

"Oh, save it, you slabbie," the figure (female, Tigress determined) said, clearly unimpressed by Tigress's display.

"_Slabbie_?" Tigress repeated as she stood up, nonplussed. "What?"

"Slabbie," the woman elaborated. "Y'know, fresh from the slab? Brand spankin' new revenant, right out of the mausoleum?"

Tigress blinked, confused. "Look, who are you? What do you want?"

"Hey, take it easy, kid," the woman said amiably. "I'm Shinu. And you are...?"

"Tigress," the martial arts master said, watching Shinu warily.

"Alright, Tigress," Shinu said, stepping into the shop, and over the dead shopkeeper. "Do you know why you're here?"

Tigress shook her head, trying desperately not to cry. "I just want to let go. I just want to leave."

"I know," Shinu said softly. "But not yet. There's work for you to do, before you can rest. Before your friends can rest."

"What do I need to do?" Tigress said wearily.

"You know," Shinu said. "remember."

Tigress reluctantly closed her eyes, and allowed the memories to surface. Moments later she whispered, "Shen."

"Yes," Shinu said, pleased. "But not just ones who committed the act. His 5 lieutenants."

"And then it's done?" Tigress whispered, almost hopefully.

"Yes," the veiled woman said warmly. "Then it's over. Finish the fight, Crow. Finish the fight."

"But first," Shinu said, stepping back and appraising Tigress. "You need some new threads."

Tigress looked at what she was wearing, and almost grimaced. Her vest was torn and charred, and her pants were torn as well.

Shinu patted her on the shoulder. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

An hour, and more than a few outfits later, Shinu presented Tigress with a navy blue vest, and a over-cloak of similar color.

"Blue is a color for funerals," Tigress said with disdain.

"Maybe," Shinu said. "But it's a very striking fashion statement."

Reluctantly, Tigress tried them on. They did fit...

"Well?" Shinu said smugly.

"Fine," Tigress muttered. "These will do."

"Alright then," Shinu said. "Go to Gongmen City, and find those who killed you and your friends."

"As if that wasn't the obvi-" Tigress started, before she realized that, somehow, Shinu had disappeared, as if she had never been there. She looked around, almost frightened, until her eyes fell on the crow.

_Follow._

The crow took flight, exiting the shop, heading west to Gongmen, with Tigress in tow.

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><p>Author's note: Insert a smartass comment here. Feel free to leave a review, and tell me what you think. We here at the insane asylum love feedback.<p> 


	2. Chapter II City of Sin

_Reborn_

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><p><strong>Chapter II<strong>

**City of Sin**

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><p>Hours of desperate running later, Tigress stood upon a hill, just beyond the wall that encircled Gongmen City, a silhouette against the darkening sky. The crow took to the air, circling the city. Tigress closed her eyes, sharing the bird's eyes for a moment. The wall opened at key points, all guarded. She would never be able to get in, unless she were to appear as a merchant. Through the crow's eyes, she saw one of the officers at the northern gate write something on a piece of parchment, presumably for Shen, or one of his officials, while a group of soldiers tore through the merchant's wares.<p>

_They're keeping track of who enters and leaves the city, and with what,_ Tigress realized. That would be a bit problematic. She needed to slip into the city unnoticed, with none of her adversaries aware of her presence. Once in, subtlety was less of a concern. Scaling the wall, it seemed, was her only alternative.

The crow, invisible against the inky sky, returned to Tigress's shoulder, and pecked her softly. Tigress looked at the bird, but returned her attention to the wall before her. She took a deep breath, extended her claws, and began to climb, her fingers finding cracks and hand holds in the stone that only a spider should have been able to find. She scaled the rampart silently, invisible to any potential observers.

She gracefully slid herself onto the walkway, looking around cautiously for any of Shen's conscripts that might be patrolling the wall. When she felt certain she was alone, she moved quickly across the walkway, and jumped off the edge, arms spread out like wings. She landed with a soft _thump_, and rolled behind a pile of refuse just as the soldier she had landed behind, turned around, dao drawn.

The soldier looked around warily, before turning his back once again, still searching for the source of the noise.

That was his biggest mistake.

Tigress emerged from her hiding spot, and closed the distance between the soldier and herself. Faster than one could blink, she drew two claws across the wolf's throat, slicing it open. He was dead before he had even dropped to the ground. Tigress lifted the cooling corpse, and tossed it behind the refuse pile that she had briefly hidden behind, before jogging off , heading further into the city.

Tigress stopped some time later, having put a considerable distance between her and the wall. She paused and looked around, vaguely recognizing the portion of the Gongmen she had wandered into. Almost immediately after she had realized it, Tigress stumbled back against the wall of a building, her head feeling as if it were splitting in two. She froze, gripped by pain, as memories long lost returned, and played out before her eyes.

She remembered chains, and iron bars. A sunless place lit by torches. A dank place, seeped in despair and sin. A home for murderers and rapists.

A prison.

Tigress stumbled out into the crowd, guided by snippets of memory, with the crow flying above her, silent and dark like the night. She wandered in what would seem like an aimless way to those who would bother to observe her, but she was far from aimless.

It was not long before she stood in front of Gongmen prison, long abandoned, for Shen had done away with prison, favoring death as a punishment for any infraction. She tore the boards that blocked her passage away, and opened the door, savoring the moist, rust-scented air. She meandered down the corridor, deeper into the bowels of the abandoned building, looking around in something like wonder. She stopped when she reached a large, circular room. To her left, she saw a cell door, opened. She turned, taking in the room, and remembered the events that had taken place here; the recovery of masters Storming Ox, and Croc. She had told Po to stay here, and let the Five apprehend Shen.

"Po, why didn't you listen?" she whispered, morosely slamming her fist against the wall, as if to vent her frustration. However, the moment her fist connected with the wall, she received her answer:

_"You really should listen to her, kid," Croc said, leaning against the wall of his cell as Po went to leave._

_"I can't. I need to know," Po responded, not looking at Croc. "And besides I can't let her go it alone."_

_"Her?" Ox questioned._

_"Them," Po back-tracked. "I meant to say them."_

_"That's a pretty big Freudian slip, kid," Croc observed._

_"Look, can we kindly drop the subject?" Po said, a little annoyed._

_"Maybe I don't want to," Croc taunted. "You gonna talk?"_

_"What's there to talk about?" Po said defensively. Croc shrugged._

_"Well," Croc said. "I'm just gonna throw some advice out there: if you do have something to say, say it before it's too late. Because you might not get another chance."_

_"I'll keep that in mind," Po said, as he left._

Tigress jerked her hand away from the wall, unnerved by what she had seen, what she had felt.

"Po," she called softly, wondering if the panda would hear her. "If you anything, anything at all, to say to me, now is as good a time as any."

There was no response. Tigress sighed.

"I figured as much," Tigress muttered. The crow cawed softly, and took flight, with Tigress following close behind.

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><p>Fǔbài sat behind the bar, polishing the glasses like he did after closing every night, when , like most nights, he was disturbed by a tapping on the locked door of the bar. Assuming it to be a drunk unaware of the time, he simply called out, "We're closed. You'll have to come back tomorrow."<p>

But, what he hadn't expected, was the door to go flying across the bar, and slam into a wall on the opposite side of the establishment. Fǔbài turned, terrified, for a lack of a better word.

Tigress stepped in, and leaned on the door frame, saying just loud enough for Fǔbài to hear her, "Suddenly, I heard a tapping, as of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. You heard me rapping, didn't you, Fǔbài?"

"Who are you?" Fǔbài said, his voice a few octaves higher out of fear, though he didn't notice. He looked across the bar to the destroyed door. "_What _are you?"

"Allow me to kill two peacocks with one stone," Tigress said amiably. "Spirit of vengeance."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Fǔbài said, rapidly become panicked by his lack of control of the situation. The pig was on the verge of hyperventilating.

"It means I need some information from you," Tigress said pointedly, walking over to lean over the bar imposingly. "Shen's dogs come here for drinks. I need there names, and where I can find them. _Now._"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Fǔbài said, deadpan. He had seen these crazy revolutionaries before. If he bluffed well enough, they went away.

"_Wrong answer!"_ Tigress said, sounding exasperated and disappointed. She grabbed him with supernatural speed, swung him over the bar, and sent him hurtling into a heavy oaken table, squealing in terror.

"Now," Tigress said, calmly, as if she hadn't just assaulted the pig, as she knelt down beside him. "Names. Places. _Now. _Before I get mean."

"Zhu," Fǔbài wheezed, struggling to breathe. "Wolf Boss, Lu, Chun, and Li."

"That's a start," Tigress said, smiling a little. "Now, where can I find them?"

"Zhu hangs around in the western quarter, sleeping with anything that has a heartbeat," Fǔbài said. "Wolf Boss sticks close to Shen, in the heart of the city. Lu deals in those black lotus flowers, the ones that make you feel weird, in the southern quarter. Chun's over in the eastern quarter, handling all the military type stuff. Weapons, explosive powder, things like that. Li's up in the northern quarter. He's a sick one. He'll pick a citizen, mark them, and set them running through the streets, so he can hunt them."

Fǔbài looked at Tigress, and implored. "Look, that's all I've got. Please...just let me go."

Tigress pondered the thought for a moment, before stepping back, and turning to leave. "If you see them before I do, tell them death is coming for them. All of them."

Fǔbài watched her go. "You know they'll kill you right? You don't stand a ghost of a chance!"

Tigress paused. "Yeah, I suppose they'll kill me once or twice. If they're good."

And with that, she left, leaving Fǔbài to pick himself up off the ground, and come to terms with his sudden sense of mortality.

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><p>Author's note: I felt it was a natural stopping point. We've got a ways to go, but it's gonna be one hell of a ride there. So buckle up, and give me a yee-haw.<p>

Oh, and please, if you suddenly feel the urge, review. I love to hear feedback from my readers. Don't leave me hanging, guys.

I would also like to acknowledge Edgar Allen Poe, for giving me the wonderful poem "The Raven", from which I was able to draw a wonderful line.


	3. Chapter III Sex and Violence

_Reborn_

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><p><strong>Chapter III<strong>

**Sex And Violence**

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><p>The girl had been huddled up in a ball, crying, when Zhu stumbled out of the room, satisfied for the moment. He contemplated taking her back to his place, to keep her with the rest of his "collection". Of course, she'd have to stop that crying business. The crying drove him crazy. He'd beat it out of her, Zhu decided, fingering the heavy chain coiled at his side.<p>

As he meandered down the alley that he had found himself in, the wolf took a swig from the flask of ale around his neck, barely aware to his surroundings, and most certainly unaware of the one shadowing him, flitting from one dark corner to the other, silent as a spectre.

Tigress watched the drunk wander, cold and calculating, as painful memories of guilt and pain flickered in her mind's eye.

_Tigress sat, hands bound, desperately trying to block out the pained screams of her friend. She struggled against her bonds, but to no avail. She could only look on in impotent rage as the wolf tortured her best friend._

Tigress felt the claws of the crow did into her shoulder, puncturing flesh, and withdrew from herself from her memories, and returned her attention to where it needed to be. On the sadist.

Watching Zhu lean up against the brick wall of the alley, and feeling the crow become restless on her shoulder, Tigress stepped out of the shadows, taking slow, measured steps towards the wolf, resisting the urge to tackle him and tear him apart like a raging monster. Instead, she whistled a tune from her childhood, one that, while it had once been a source of happiness and comfort, carried bitterness and cruelty and a promise of pain in it's notes now.

Zhu turned, looking for the source of the chilling music. Slowly coming nearer, he saw a woman, a tiger, the right side of her face seemingly painted monochrome, garbed in dark blue robes. The cold, emotionless look in her eye chilled him to the very bone. Too scared to speak but too drunk to keep his mouth shut, he stared for a moment and then said to her, "Who the fuck are you supposed to be?"

Tigress lunged, shoving him up against the wall, growling out, "_Murderer!"_

"Murderer?" Zhu responded. "I didn't murder anybody. I don't even know who the fuck you are."

"I want you to tell me a story," Tigress whispered, tracing his jugular vein with a claw. "A woman, a snake, in a prison, two years ago."

"Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"Listen to me!" Tigress spat, gripping his throat. "I'm sure you'll remember. You killed her, late summer."

"Yeah, yeah, I think I get you," Zhu said, eyeing her, frightened. "Some bitch, whatev-"

"Her name was Viper!" Tigress hissed. "You beat her. You _raped_ her."

"Yeah...Viper..." Zhu said, as if it were all coming back to him. "I shagged her, and she _loved_ it!"

Tigress flinched, faltering for that one crucial moment. Zhu's closed fist connected with her temple, sending her rolling across the ground. Zhu, leering, removed the flail from his belt.

"Now," he said, swinging the chain lazily. "I'm gonna have to teach you a lesson."

Tigress grunted, pushing herself back up, saying, "I don't need no education."

Zhu circled her warily. Without warning, he swung, aiming high.

Tigress dropped into a crouch, dodging the chain, before standing back up, grinning contemptuously at Zhu. "You're going to have to try a little harder."

The wolf growled, raising the chain above his head and bringing it down, in the hopes of caving her skull in.

Tigress, still giving the wolf a patronizing glare, twisted sideways, and watched calmly as the weapon swung just past her nose. "Swing and a miss!"

Zhu bared his teeth, and swung low, trying to knock the obnoxious tiger's feet out from under her.

Tigress jumped into the air, over the chain as it swung by, driving her fist into the wolf's muzzle, savoring the crunch of cartilage beneath her knuckles as Zhu went reeling. "C'mon, you can do better than that! Or maybe you're just used to opponents that can't fight back?"

Zhu let out a bloodcurdling shriek as he felt his nose collapse inward and his teeth fracture. He swung blindly, desperately hoping to hit her, only for Tigress catch the flail in her hand, and tear it from his.

"I was expecting a-" Tigress started before she doubled over in empathic pain, overwhelmed by the sudden rush of images and sensations emanating from the wolf's weapon. Visions of blood, pain, and fear flashed before her eyes and tore through her psyche, her body paralyzed by the sensory overload of hundreds of lives, living out their last moments in suffering.

She fell to the ground, still gripping the chain in a vice-like grip, and coiled up into a ball, helpless before the visions. After a moment, they began to recede, and Tigress, thoroughly shaken, moved to return to a standing position, only to receive a hardened boot to her abdomen, sending her sprawling once more.

"Looksth like the bootsth on the othah foot, eh?" Zhu said through shattered teeth, landing another kick in the disoriented revenant's side. "Sthtupid bitch."

The crow, recognizing its revenant's plight, dove from the roof of the building where it observed, and attacked the wolf, clawing at Zhu's face.

Zhu, startled by the sudden appearance of the creature, tried to beat the bird off, but his effort was in vain.

Tigress, still sifting through snippets of memories that were not hers, and feelings that were not hers, regained focus long enough to become aware of the situation the crow had gotten itself into.

"Hands off my bird," she growled, swinging her leg out, and taking Zhu's out from under him."Do you have _any idea_ what I had to go through to get that thing?"

Zhu went down like a sack of bricks, his head rebounding off of the cobbled ground of the alley in a most satisfying fashion.

Tigress threw herself on top of him, gripping his throat, claws extended. "I have something to show you. But first..."

She took a pouch from Zhu's belt, and emptied it into her hands, and gripped the bits of jewelry and cloth tightly, struggling to avoid being consumed by the rush of memories and sensations. When she had garnered all she could from the baubles, she casually dropped the jewelry on Zhu, piece by piece.

"Each of these," she said, her face passive, but her eyes wrathful. "was a life. One that you destroyed. Think about that, Zhu. Just think about that."

She took her hands, and pressed them against the sides of the wolf's face, driving her thumbs into his eyes until they began to bleed. "I have something for you. Consider it a...return to sender."

Zhu's cries of pain now turned into fullblown screams of agony and terror as he relived the final moments of each of his victims, all at once.

"All their pain," Tigress cooed, the way one would to comfort a crying infant. "all at once. All for you."

When Zhu had seen all that Tigress had to show him, she withdrew, leaving the wolf to curl up into a ball as she retrieved the chain, that now lay abandoned on the ground.

"P-please, just let me go," Zhu said, all options but pleading now gone from him. "I'll never touch another woman asht long as I live, I swear! Just...Just get away from me."

Tigress, smiling wickedly, gripped him by the jaw, and lifted him up to gaze into his bloody, destroyed eyes.

"But I'm not done yet," she whispered coyly, echoing what she had seemingly heard a thousand times over, before she let him drop, sobbing like a newborn, to the ground once more.

"Now," Tigress said, swinging chain. "I'm gonna have to teach you a lesson."

The crow looked on from the roof as Zhu started to beg once more, pleading for his life, for mercy, for a second chance. But his words fell on deaf ears, and his fear would not soften the hardened heart of his pursecutor.

_One down, five to go_.

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><p>Author's note: Did I beat it into your head hard enough that Zhu was (emphasis on was) a bad guy? And an evil, evil rapist? Not saying rape's not a special kind of evil, but I really drove it home, I think.<p>

I'd like to thank Pink Floyd, for the "I don't need no education" line, and Brandon Lee for the opening interactions of Zhu and Tigress. Rest in peace, sir. You done good.

...

I make a lot of references, don't I?


	4. Chapter IV Happy Birthday

_Reborn_

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><p><strong>Chapter IV<strong>

**Happy Birthday, My Old Friend**

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><p>Zhēnlǐ grimaced at the grisly scene in front of him. Before the crowd of city guardsman sat the corpse of one of Shen's right-hand men, on the wall behind it a crude picture of a bird painted in blood.<p>

His friend and fellow patrolman, Huǎngyán, walked over to him, and clapped him on the shoulder. "So, what would you say the cause of death is, dear friend?"

"Very funny, Huǎngyán," Zhēnlǐ said, glancing at his jovial friend. "Now can we get a little serious? If this is that so-called resistance movement, it means they've got a lot more to back them up than a few old men and some idealists. They're taking out the big dogs."

"Oh, that's nonsense, and you know it," Huǎngyán said dismissively. "He probably palmed the wrong girl's ass, and she went at him with a knife as a result. See? I just solved your grand mystery."

"You see any knife wounds there?" Zhēnlǐ derided. "Someone stabbed his eyes out, and beat him to death with his own chain. That's not exactly heat-of-the-moment."

"Doesn't exactly mean it was that group of whiny old men, does it?" Huǎngyán said, rolling his eyes. "And what's your problem with them anyway? So they don't like how things are run around here, big deal. You don't like Shen's policies either."

"Maybe, but there're other ways than vigilanteism and terrorism," Zhēnlǐ whispered harshly, trying not to be overheard by some of the more fanatical guardsmen.

Huǎngyán started to say something, but was cut off by his rumbling stomach. "...Tell you what. Why don't we continue this argument over a bowl of soup? I know this great noodle shop nearby!"

Zhēnlǐ rolled his eyes. "Sure, why not? It's not like we've got anything excessively important to worry about, like, say, dead government officials."

Huǎngyán laughed. "That's the spirit. Let's go!"

Zhēnlǐ sighed, and turned to follow his friend, but he stopped, and looked at the bloody drawing. He couldn't help but feel that it was important.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean," he's dead"?" Wolf Boss thundered, his voice echoing throughout the throne room.<p>

The sheep courier's legs shook, but he stood his ground. "Just that, sir. He's passed on. He has ceased to be. He's expired and gone to meet his maker. He's a stiff. Bereft of life, he rests in peace. His metabolic processes are now history. He's kicked the bucket; he's shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. He is an ex-wolf."

"That was meant to be rhetorical, and you know it, you smarmy little-"

"Now, now, Wolf Boss, old friend," Shen said, looking rather bored with the whole affair. "Smarmy he may be, but he has brought us important information, and should be rewarded thus. Does...thirty pieces of silver sound appropriate to you?"

The sheep was stunned. Thirty pieces of silver would supply he and his family for the remainder of the month. "Yes, milord. Thank you, milord."

"Regardless of what you hear on the streets, I am not a cruel ruler," Shen said, his eyes betraying his apathy. "Now go."

"Yes, milord," the sheep said, hurrying out.

Wolf Boss turned to his commander-in-chief and looked at him questioningly.

"Good public reputation, my friend," Shen said, smiling. "He will tell his friends, who will tell their friends, and it will spread like wild-fire that loyalty to me is rewarded, while rebellion is eliminated with extreme prejudice."

"I...see," Wolf Boss said, beginning to understand. "But, what do we do about Zhu's killer?"

"It was probably an unfortunate turn of events," Shen said. "We will simply have to wait and see if anymore comes of it."

This did not satisfy Wolf Boss, but he knew better than to disagree with his employer. So, he simply nodded. "I suppose we will."

* * *

><p>Tigress sat, leaning against the wall of the cell that had once held Masters Croc and Ox, lost inside memories that seemed as old as time. She leaned her head against the wall, her eyes closed, and watched as they played out behind her eyelids.<p>

_The clanking of iron chains filled her ears, and the swaying of the raft making her nauseous. The smell of gunpowder was thick in the air. There was the sound of rapid snaps and crackles amid the crashing waves, and a choking, blinding smoke, all leading up to a sudden flash of blinding light, and unimaginable heat, followed by a hellish chill. And all the while, Shen's demented, soulless laugh echoed in the distance._

Almost subconsciously, she drew a claw down the length of her forearm, drawing her from her memories. Like her other self-inflicted wounds, they healed, but it left a scar. The momentary pain brought her a small modicum of comfort. It grounded her in reality, bringing her back to the here and now, and keeping her out of her memories.

She contemplated the previous night, almost puzzled. She had expected that the retribution she had wrought would relieve some of her rage, and sooth her guilt. But it hadn't; if anything, it had made her anger worse, and had done nothing for her guilt.

"Don't you have some bad guys to ice?" a voice asked, echoing from outside the cell.

Tigress, still gazing blankly at the floor, replied in a tired voice, "Yesterday upon the stair I met a man who wasn't there. He wasn't there again today. I wish that man would go away."

"You wound me, dear," Shinu said, entering the cell, arms crossed. "So, one down, five to go, eh?"

"Yes," Tigress replied, before pausing, and asking, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Just did," the masked woman replied. "But sure, fire away."

"It's about Po..." Tigress started, before pausing awkwardly.

"Oh, this should be good," Shinu said, inspecting her fingernails. "What about the late great fuzz ball has your curiosity piqued?"

"I-I've seen things, since my resurrection," Tigress said, thinking back to the memories, and feelings of adoration and hope she had felt when she had touched the jade ring, and the wall of the prison. "And I was wondering...how did he feel? About me?"

Shinu sighed. "I can't tell you that."

"Can't, or won't?" Tigress said, eyebrow raised.

"Can't," Shinu replied sternly, before returning to her typically jovial mood. "Besides, even if I did know, it's more fun for you to find these things out on your own."

Tigress' response was a frustrated growl.

"Oh, stop that," Shinu admonished. "Just because _I_ can't tell doesn't mean_ he_ can't."

"And how do you propose I go about that?" Tigress snapped. "He's dead, and I'm stuck here, in this horrible place, getting my arm twisted around by a damn bird that loves dirty pool, ranting to some gods know what you are-"

"What I am is not important," Shinu interjected icily. "What's important is that you balance the scales, set the wrong things right. You do that, and you get a reunion with your buddies. Then you can ask him all the questions you want."

"So I'm not getting any slack until I play my part as a cog in your grand design, then?" Tigress sighed, calming down a little.

"Not really, no," the veiled woman said, leaning up against the wall.

"And there's no way I could convince you to give me a little wriggle room?" Tigress asked, knowing the answer.

"You want the prize, you play the game," Shinu said, shrugging.

Tigress watched at the light from the cell's window dimmed, and the shadows deepened. Deciding that now was as good a time as any, she stood, and brushed past Shinu, heading for the exit. It was time to hunt; it was time to avenge.

Shinu watched as the kung fu master stalked past her. "And where do you think you're going?"

"I've got things to do," the tiger said.

"Don't forget why you were brought back, kid," Shinu said. "You weren't brought back for romance."

Tigress stopped, and leaned on the doorway of the cell. Not looking at Shinu, she replied, "I know."

Watching Tigress stride out of the prison, Shinu sighed.

"I hope so, Slabbie," she whispered.

* * *

><p>It was dark. If Xuě lì's mother hadn't been dosed up on the black lotus flowers that Lu brought with him every time he came by, she would have been irate, given how dangerous the southern quarter was at night. Xuě lì shivered in the cold. Normally, she would have returned to her home, but when Lu and her mother were inhaling the smoke of burned lotus flowers, they did strange, nasty things to each other, that frightened her, and on occassion, Lu would want to do those things to her. No, it was better on the streets. It was safer.<p>

Xuě lì heard the distinct sound of sandals on cobblestone, and sank back into wall as much as she could, hoping she wouldn't be seen.

She saw a woman, a tiger, dressed in blue and black, the right side of her face monochrome, the left orange and black, stop in front of the tenement building. She had a bird on her shoulder, which was odd to Xuě lì, for she had never seen a bird quite like that. She stared, mystified by the stranger, when the crow cawed. Startled, she jumped, kicking a stone on accident. The tiger turned, spotting her. Both were silent, for a time.

"Shouldn't you be home?" Tigress asked quietly. "It's not safe out here."

"Safer than home," Xuě lì said, still not taking her eyes off the stranger.

"Why not?" Tigress asked, dropping to one knee, so as to look the child in the eye.

"My mother's boyfriend," Xuě lì said, spitting the phrase like it was poison. "He deals in those black lotus flowers, and my mom's hooked. They do weird, awful things when they've inhaled a lot of the smoke."

Tigress' brow furrowed. "What's his name?"

"Lu," the girl said.

Tigress cocked her head, and smiled. "What if I told you that I could fix it? Get rid of Lu, and help your mother?"

"Can you?" Xuě lì asked, almost hopefully, almost crying with relief when she recieved a slow nod in return.

"I can," Tigress said, before rising. "Now, I have something I need to take care of. When I'm done, we'll both be better off."

* * *

><p>Lu inhaled deeply, enjoying the smell of the smoke, and the warmth of the woman beneath him. Not a bad birthday, he thought to himself.<p>

"I do hope I'm not interrupting anything," a voice from just inside the front door said in a superior tone.

Lu turned, to see a tigress dressed in blue, with a bird on her shoulder, staring at him contemptuously.

The woman beneath him, a mountain cat by the name of Mei Ling, squirmed out from underneath him, and looked at Tigress with glazed eyed. "wh-who the fuck are you?"

Mei Ling turned to Lu. "Who is she?"

"Oh, can it," Tigress said. "My business is with him, not you. For now."

Mei Ling, startled by the tone of Tigress' voice, shut up.

Lu, refusing to be intimidated, stood up, stark naked, and took a throwing knife from the set on the table to his left, and held it up so Tigress could clearly see it. "I think it's time you took your bird and left, freako."

Tigress, smiling, held her arms out wide. "Go ahead, Lu. I'm right in front of you."

Lu needed no further encouragement. He cocked his wrist back, and threw the knife, as hard as he could. It landed with a satisfying, wet, thump in Tigress's throat.

Tigress, feeling the need to put on a show, thrashed about, clutching at her throat, a horrified look on her face.

Lu, drugged out and sadistic, started laughing, joined by Mei Ling. "He shoots, he scores!"

Tigress turned to face, her horrified look turning into a sadistic smile of her own, as she plucked the knife out, and ran her fingers over where the knife had once been.

"Guess you aren't as good as you think you are," Tigress said, echoing what he had said to Monkey once, long ago.

"H-holy shit," Lu breathed, unable to think of anything else to say. Mei Ling, drugged out as she was, didn't say anything, but tried to work out what she had just seen using the dust motes floating around in the air.

"Now, what I was thinking," Tigress said, walking towards Lu slowly. "Was that you would apologize, for killing my friend and the-"

Lu threw another knife, this one landing in her chest.

"Ow," Tigress growled, plucking the knife out and tossing it to the floor before continuing. "Then we'd see to killing you, followed by-"

Lu hurled yet another knife, panicking. "Don't you ever fucking die?"

"Your eternal punishment in whatever godforsaken hell you go to," Tigress said, grabbing a knife from the table, and rammed it into his thigh.

"How...how did you..." Lu said, somewhat dazed.

Tigress grabbed Lu, and dragged him into the bedroom, where he kept the lotus flowers.

"Remember Monkey?" she snarled, holding a black lotus flower in front of Lu's face. "You got him hooked on these. You tried to use him as an arena fighter. When he refused, you cut him off, and let the withdrawals kill him. For two, long, painful months he suffered because of you."

"That's what you're here for?" Lu said, a little unimpressed. "You lost a fucking colleague, and now you're pissy, so you're taking it out on me?"

"He was family!" Tigress shouted, slamming him into the wall, before calming down somewhat, and throwing Lu to the floor. She grabbed the bowl of black lotus, and knelt down beside him, holding one of the flowers in front of his face.

"You know," she said. "I recall you saying the only way to get a good high off of these is to burn them and inhale the smoke. Ingesting them kills you. Be a sweetheart and open your mouth, would you?"

Lu blanched, and shook his head vigorously.

"I said," Tigress reiterated, gripping his jaw tightly. "Open your fucking mouth."

Tigress tore his mouth open, tearing his cheeks to allow for his jaw to open wider. She dropped the lotus flower in her hand into his mouth, before grabbing another handful and forcing him to swallow them. She repeated this, over and over again, until the bowl was empty, in a seemingly endless rhythm: grab, shove, grab.

"Now," she said, upon emptying the bowl. "You just sit here, and die. I've got things to do."

She patted his cheek, and stood, stalking out of the room, to find Mei Ling, curled up in the corner, scared out of her mind.

"Now," Tigress said, approaching Mei Ling. "You and I are going to have a little discussion."

"You stay away from me," Mei Ling whispered, shivering.

Tigress crouched down in front of her. When Mei Ling, panicking, went to hit her, Tigress grabbed her hand, looking at her with pity in her eyes.

"You don't remember me, do you?" Tigress asked, sadly.

"Why should I remember you?" she snarled, struggling against Tigress' vice-like grip.

"Do you remember Crane?" Tigress said quietly, barely meeting Mei Ling's eyes. Mei ling went limp, and glared at Tigress, her expression pained.

"Crane's dead, been dead for two years," she said, looking away. "I've moved on."

"You're right," Tigress said, gently gripping her jaw, making Mei Ling look her in the eye. "He's dead. But you're alive, and so is your daughter."

As Tigress spoke, an inky black liquid beaded upon Mei Ling's skin like sweat, staining her fur, and dripped off of her. It poured from her tear ducts in rivulets, leaving trails. Soon, the spectacle ended, the black mess covering the floor.

As she watched, Tigress said, "Mother is the name for God on the lips and hearts of all children. Your daughter is on the streets, waiting for you to sober up, and be the mother that she needs you to be.

"How did you do that?" Mei Ling asked, frightened and mystified.

"Magic," Tigress replied. She got up to leave, but as she passed the door way that led to the bedroom, Lu came barreling out, shrieking like a banshee, and tackled her to the ground. Blood dripping from his eyes, nostrils, and mouth, he scrambled for the knife that lay just a few feet away.

Tigress promptly shoved him off of her, leaping to her feet. "You just don't know when to stay down, do you?"

Lu didn't answer, and instead charged towards her, knife at the ready.

Tigress deftly wrapped her arm around his, locking his attacking arm in place, and pulled back, taking the knife from his grasp, and landed a strong kick to his stomach, knocking him back.

Lu stumbled, but for the most part, wasn't fazed; a result of the black lotus smokes nerve-numbing qualities. Not quite willing to lie down and accept the end just yet, he came at her again, attempting to grab and restrain her.

Tigress knocked his hands away, taking a step to the side, and grabbed his throat. Placing her heel at his ankle, she knocked his feet out from under him, and pushed, sending him crashing to the floor. Taking the knife in hand, she slammed it down through his skull, ending him.

"Those..." Mei Ling started, stunned. "Those were defensive techniques. Tiger style. Who are you?"

Tigress opened her mouth to respond, but the crow flapped its wings and cawed anxiously. The message was clear: not now. Tigress knew the bird was right. She had much work to do before the night was through.

"I don't have the time to explain it to you now," she said instead. "Look for my sign tomorrow night, and follow it. But for now, I have business to attend to."

Mei Ling began to protest, to say that she had the right to an explanation now, but by the time she had uttered the first syllable of her would-be tirade, Tigress had taken Lu's corpse, tossed it out the window, and followed after it.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: ...What? Did you expect a "warm fuzzies" moment? After what you've seen so far? <em>Really<em>? Ok, I might throw you a bone next chapter...or I might break someone's pretty little skull with it. You never know with me.

Anyway, you'll notice, I introduced Mei Ling, and two boobs that are essentially part of Gongmen's police department. They are entirely inconsequential, pay no attention to them.

I'd also like to thank Emily Dickinson for the rhyme that Tigress tossed at Shinu, earlier in this chapter. And Monty Python for the goat courier's line. Because, as we know, a truly good fanfic is made of Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe, and Monty Python references! This we know to be true.

The initial interaction between Lu and Tigress ("take yoiur bird and leave, freako") is a nod to the original Crow, making Lu essentially analogous to Funboy.

Oh, and the thirty pieces of silver is a reference in and of itself. Can you guess as to what?

I had another Monty Python reference lined up, but that's gonna have to wait 'till next chapter.


	5. Chapter V Cyanide

_Reborn_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter V<strong>

**Cyanide**

* * *

><p>Tigress padded silently across the rooftops of the eastern district of Gongmen, the lights of her destination growing ever closer. She grew tense as she grew nearer to the place, it's stone floors stained with the blood of many an unfortunate worker, and the blood of someone else. Someone much more important to her.<p>

Po.

The Dragon Warrior, the one she had come to call friend, had died there, taking a cannonball to the chest. Tigress had arrived just in time to see the massive orb of lead launch him into the air, and send him flying. She remembered reaching out, calling his name, cursing herself for not arriving sooner, for not ensuring somehow that he would stay out of the fight. She remembered the crushing guilt, and the dark, fiery, blinding rage that had consumed her once the grief had subsided.

But what stood out, was the regret. She regretted every hateful word, every envious glare, and each spiteful feeling and deed that she had directed at Po, during his initial time at the Jade Palace. She had come to regret that she had never truly apologized, and that she had wasted time on such things.

_You should not dwell on such things_.

Tigress looked up into the sky, to see the crow circling above her. "You know I can't. It's my fault he's dead. I didn't anticipate his actions, when it was _obvious_ what he would do. _I_ was leading the team, it was _my_ responsibility..."

_You are indulging in needless self-pity, and distracting yourself from your purpose._

"I know my purpose," the martial artist hissed, snarling at the feathered creature. "and I pity _no one, _least of all myself."

_You are deluding yourself._

_"_My purpose is to avenge my friends," Tigress said, leaping over the gap between two builings, and landing gracefully on the other side of the divide. "If I were to forget them, how am I to avenge them?"

The crow was silent.

"That's what I thought, you wretch," Tigress muttered, stepping off of the edge of the roof on which she stood, landing in a darkened corner of the sidewalk. Stepping out into the lantern-lit street, she walked calmly, if with purpose, across the cobbled road, heading directly for the factory entrance, only to be stopped by the armed guards waiting on either side.

"And where do you think _you're_ going, freakshow?" one of them, this one a boar, said derisively, barring her entry with a long, cruel-looking spear.

Tigress looked at him, with cold, empty eyes. "I'd recommend putting that away. You could get hurt."

"The only person getting hurt around here is gonna be you," the boar sneered, and jabbed at her with the spear.

Unnaturally fast, Tigress grasped the spear just behind the head, and wrenched it from the guards grasp. Flipping the spear so that the blade faced her opponent, she ran him through, pinning him to the wall.

The other guard, a crocodile, panicked at the sight of his companion being killed within the span a few seconds, lashed out with his mace.

Tigress, calm and composed, blocked the blow with her hand, and grabbed the mace away from him with her right hand, while landing an unforgiving blow to his stomach. When the croc doubled over, she brought the mace down on the back of his skull, shattering it.

"I told you," Tigress said, stepping over the corpse and through the gate. "But you just didn't listen."

* * *

><p>"Where do you want this, boss?" the wolf said, motioning to the large wooden barrel of gunpowder.<p>

Chun , broadswords strapped to his back, stared down at the worker from the catwalk. "With the bolts and cannon barrels, of course. With the gunpowder, you idiot!"

The worker flinched, and began rolling the barrel to where Chun had gestured.

Chun sighed. "It's so hard to find good help these days."

Chun enjoyed his job. He presided over the whole of the eastern quarter of Gongmen, reporting only to Shen, and was given free reign to do most anything that he felt needed doing. All these liberties, and all he needed to do was make sure the factory, and it's warehouse division, stayed stocked, and the supplies held within were shipped out at the required dates.

To him, it was a good life, far better than what he had known during his formative years in the Mongolian Steppes.

The room suddenly darkened, the torches hanging from the walls guttering, and turning a deep shade of blue.

While the blue flame was, in and of itself, not an uncommon thing, the hue was wrong. The torches burned a light, icy shade of blue, and they cast cold and unforgiving light.

"Tides of sin draw tighter and brighter, hours become heavier and weighted, and the shadows smile dark and wild," a feminine voice said, from somewhere in the darkness.

Chun, as well as the workers, twisted there heads in the general direction of the voice. Out of the shadows came a tigress, dressed in dark clothing, half of her face bathed in shadow.

"Who the hell are you?" Chun asked, unimpressed.

"Hell," Tigress said, contemplatively, smiling."The black void. Funny you should mention it, I've booked you a spot there."

At that, Chun laughed, before looking down at the wolves gathered below. "Dispatch her."

One of them, this one armed with a bow, nocked an arrow, and took aim.

Tigress looked at him contemptuously. "If you shoot, it'll just...kill me."

The wolf let the arrow fly, the projectile burying itself deep into Tigress's midsection.

Tigress doubled over, still looking at the wolf with a sardonic look on her face. "You wound me, sir. _Wound me_. I am wounded."

She stood, pulling the arrow out, holding it between her thumb and forefinger mockingly. "Huh, what do you know. I got better."

"How- what- _you should be dead!_" the wolf shrieked, his voice rising several octaves.

"It's not death if you refuse it," Tigress replied, shrugging.

Chu looked at her passively. She must have caught the arrow, and was attempting to psyche out his men, he reasoned. "Kill her."

Ever the loyal servents, the wolves, those carrying swords at least, charged, blades bared.

Tigress dropped the first three with a blow to the torso, ducking in time to avoid the fourth's dao.

The wolf snarled and swun at her again.

Tigress returned the snarl, blocking the strike with the palm of her hand, ignoring the gash that healed seconds later, and tore the wolf's throat out. Stepping over the gurgling corpse, she looked at the original wolf who had shot her.

"Last chance," she said, knowing that he would understand.

The wolf hesitated, before sprinting at full speed past her and to the exit, only to drop dead as he reached the doorway, a quarrel buried in his head.

Chun loaded another quarrel into the hand-crossbow. "I do not tolerate desertion."

Tigress looked up at Chun, grinning in a way that would have made a shark nervous.

"I played with all your little friends," she said, pointing at him. "Now I wanna play with _you_."

"Mmhmm, yeah, ok," Chun said, unimpressed, before aiming the hand-crossbow and burying the loaded quarrel deep into her chest cavity.

Tigress, equally unimpressed, plucked out the quarrel and sighed in relief as the wound closed.

Chun stood, stunned. "What the hell are you?"

"Death without parole," Tigress replied leaping into the air, and landing on the catwalk.

Chun jumped, frightened, but he refused to run, especially from a woman. That was a level of humiliation he would not accept. So, instead, he drew his broadswords, saying, "I take it you know how to fight?"

"Do you know how to die?" Tigress replied, dropping into a crouch.

Chun came at her, his blades whirling in an elegant figure-8 pattern.

Tigress ducked and dodged the blades, closing the distance between them, making it impossible for him to strike. She took grip of his wrists, in an attempt to make him drop the swords.

Chun resisted, managing to throw her to the ground. He brought his blades down in an effort to end the conflict.

Tigress, thinking on her feet, rolled behind him, and got to her feet.

Whirling, he swung his blades horizontally, hoping to separate her head from her shoulders.

Tigress ducked, and slammed her head into his stomach, sending him to the floor, the broadswords falling from his grip. She grabbed him, and slammed him into the railing.

"You remember your home, Chun?" Tigress hissed, gripping him by the front of his tunic. "Remember how you used to plan family dinners shortly after a battle, or a death, when there was food?"

"T-that's not me anymore," Chun replied, scared out of his mind.

"Oh, but it was two years ago," Tigress said. "Remember? A mantis? You roasted him. Ate him."

"Why do _you _care?" Chun replied, struggling against her vice-like grip.

"He was my _friend_," she snarled. "He was a brother to me. And you fucking _ate him_."

"What're you gonna do?" he sneered. "My men are replaceable. I'm not. Shen would have your bent little head!"

"Shen's not my problem-yet," Tigress replied. "Right now, _you_ are."

Tigress drew the knife she had kept from her encounter with Lu, and waved it in front of Chun's face. "Your friend Lu shouldn't have played with knives."

She tore open his tunice, placing the edge of the blade on his left breast. "One crow, sorrow."

She cut deeply, and watched in perverse satisfaction as blood poured from the wound, and Chun screamed. "Two crows, blood."

She cut him again, a sharp, angular line, smiling toothily as Chun screamed out again. "Three crows, a brother."

Another cut, another scream. "Four crows, a boy."

A fifth cut. "Five crows, silver."

Another. "Six crows, gold!"

And another. "Seven crows, a secret never to be told!"

Weak from loss of blood, Chun's words were indecipherable, and his movements were weak and sluggish.

Tigress looked at the arrangement of her cuts, and was satisfied that they resembled a bird. Wedging her fingers into the cuts, she tore the flesh away, much to Chun's agony, to reveal a faintly beating heart. Her eyes cold as ice, she tore it from his chest, and savored his scream. She looked at him, and watched the light begin to fade from his eyes, and said one last thing to him, as she took a bite from the muscle she held in her hand.

"Eat your heart out, Chun."

When she had finished what she her grisly meal, she made her way back down to the floor of the warehouse, taking Chun's broadswords with her. Seeing the cannon parts, she frowned in disgust. Upon further investigation she found barrels of oil, presumably for torches, and cleaning the cannons. Dumping over the barrels, she made sure to douse the barrels of gunpowder with the flammable liquid.

On the way out, she grabbed one of the torches, and hurled it into the massive, if shallow, lake of oil upon the floor, smiling as it ignited. The crow, having disappeared into the rafters, flew past her, guiding her as she calmly walked out of the burning building.

* * *

><p>Outside, Zhēnlǐ wandered his usual beat, watching for the typical thugs and muggers. However, what caught his notice was something far bigger.<p>

The factory was on fire.

He stood there, awestruck. He knew the discontent, crime, and violence that filled the city like a brother, but this was something he had never seen the likes of.

He saw a robed figure exiting the gate of the factory, and drew his hand-crossbow. "Hold it!"

The figure responded dryly, "I thought patrolmen always said "freeze"."

"Well I'm a patrolmen," Zhēnlǐ replied to the obviously feminine voice. "And I said hold it."

The woman kept moving.

"Move and you're dead," Zhēnlǐ warned, holding the crossbow as steady as he could.

"I say I'm dead," she said, now coming into full view, hands raised. "And I move."

Now that Zhēnlǐ was able to see her face, he was slightly perturbed. The right side of her face was monochrome, but the rest was the typical orange and black of a tiger. "What are you, nuts? Walking into a crossbow? You high?"

"Don't recognize me?" Tigress asked, somewhat disappointed. "Huh. Two years off the scene, and I'm nobody. Talk about gratitude."

"What are you on about?" Zhēnlǐ said, growing more confused by the second.

"How about Po Ping?" Tigress pressed, taking another step, just to taunt the wolf. "Do you remember the Dragon Warrior?"

"He's dead, my friend," Zhēnlǐ replied, keeping his weapon trained on her. "Now, I want you to move over to the curb there. C'mon, real nice and easy. Go on! Now, I'm gonna wait for back-up. This is too friggin' weird for me."

Tigress, seeing no real reason to refuse, went to the curb. "Just wait- it get's better. Do you know someone named Zhen? He should've treated his bedmates with a little more respect."

"You're the one that murdered Zhen in the western quarter," Zhēnlǐ whispered, stunned.

"Murdered?" Tigress echoed, somewhat indignantly, before softly adding, "Murdered?"

"He was already dead," Tigress said, looking away. "He died the moment he touched her. They're all dead. They just haven't realized it yet."

"Her?" Zhēnlǐ repeated, not following. "Who? What- you're not making any sense, lady. None."

Tigress looked up at him, a faint glimmer of recognition in her scarlet eyes. "You...you were there. Two years ago. _You were there._"

"What? I-" Zhēnlǐ started, before he noticed the crowd growing in front of the burning factory as another series of explosions ripped through it. "Hey! Hey! Get away from there! Go on, scram!"

Zhēnlǐ turned back to the tigress, only to find her gone. He looked around wildly, frightened. "Oh, great. Great! A girl shows up looking like a half-painted geisha, and you lose her right out in the open...Well, at least she didn't do that dancing shit. I hate that."

* * *

><p>So many Crow references:<p>

The "tides of sin" line comes from The Crow: Stairway to Heaven

The "It'll just...kill me" line comes from The Crow: Stairway to Heaven

"Death without parole" comes from The Crow: Stairway to Heaven

"Not death if you refuse it" = The Crow: Stairway to Heaven

"Booked you a spot in Hell" comes from (who'da thunk?) The Crow: Stairway to Heaven.

The dialogue (most of it) between Zhēnlǐ and Tigress comes from The Crow( 1994). Again, if you haven't seen it, you are not legally a human being. So go watch it.

I'm pretty sure the "counting crows" poem is public domain. Fairly certain.

Also, you'll notice the Monty Python reference. Why? Because I like me some Monty Python.

So, so , so many references.

Remember, guys: Reviews are my meat,bread, and butter. I don't know what I'm doing right/wrong if you don't tell me.


	6. Chapter VI Are You With Me

_Reborn_

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><p><strong>Chapter VI<strong>

**Are You With Me?**

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><p>Shen drummed his fingers, or what passed for them, on the armrest of his throne, glaring at the goat courier who had decided he had the testicular fortitude to barge into the palace early in the morning, claiming to have important news, and wake his emperor.<p>

"I should hope this is truly important," Shen said testily. "And not just an excuse to bask in my glory."

"Sir," the goat began, taking careful note of how close Shen's royal guards were. "Your lieutenants in the southern and eastern quarters are dead."

Shen shrugged. "And? They're easily replaced."

"The factory in the eastern quarter," the courier said, nervously eyeing the floor, knowing what Shen's reaction would be. "was destroyed."

"What?" Shen roared, launching himself from his seat. "Destroyed? How?"

"N-no one knows, sir," the goat responed, taking a step back from the seething peacock. "There was only a single witness, and he didn't see anyone in the vicinity."

"Bring him before me," Shen demanded. "I'll question him myself."

"Y-yes, milord," the goat stuttered, turning and running from the throne room, with Shen's blood red eyes watching him all the while.

* * *

><p>Tigress sat silently in her cell, her home, waiting for the sun to drop behind the horizon. The crow had perched itself on the dessicated bedmat, and now pecked restlessly at the worn bamboo fibers. She understood how the creature felt. She longed to be on the move, but she longed to rest as well.<p>

And, soon, she would have that, she thought. Soon.

She sighed, and leaned her head against the dank wall of what had come to be her home, and thought of what would soon be her home. She thought of the warmth, like that of a summer sun, and gentle, whispering breeze. She thought of the peach tree.

The crow cawed obnoxiously, drawing her out of her reverie. She looked at her surroundings bitterly. She hated them. She hated the cold, damp stone of the prison. She hated the rotting, moldy smell that permeated it. And yet...it was so familiar, despite the fact she had been there a grand total of once. It was the last place she had seen and spoken to Po. The last time she had seen the person who had become one of her greatest friends and confidants alive.

"It's just not right," she whispered, staring off into the gloom.

Down the corridor, something rattled, and there was a sound akin to that of someone stepping on a squeaky, loose floorboard.

Tigress tensed, watching her surroundings, almost expecting Shinu to fade into view.

The sound echoed through the dark halls of the derelict prison again, and Tigress cautiously stepped out into the hall, warily watching the other cells that could be hiding the intruder from her sight. She hesitantly made her way past each of the cells, glancing in each of them to determine that they were truly empty. The sound of something brushing against a chain echoed from the final cell on her right.

Tigress rounded the corner and entered the cell, intent on apprehending the interloper. Instead, she found an empty room, save for a single manacle dangling from a chain, which quaked as if recently disturbed.

Cautiously moving into the heart of the cell, Tigress glanced around, scanning the entirety of the cell. Thrice she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye, only to whirl about and find nothing there.

Frustrated by what appeared to be naught but her imagination, Tigress went to leave the darkening cell. Then, as she neared the threshold, she took pause. The air around her warmed took on a shimmering countenance, and it weighed on her like lead weights. Like...

"...Po?" she wondered aloud, as the strange, albeit familiar presence gathered around her. "Is that you?"

Then, almost as immediately as it had come, the presence retreated. Tigress lashed out wildly, trying to grasp the intangible entity, to keep it close.

"Po? No, don't go! I'm sorry! It was my fault! I shouldn't have left you there! Please, don't leave me here!" she cried out, dropping to her knees as the presence withdrew entirely, leaving her alone in the cold and the dark.

Dismayed, frightened, and confused, Tigress stumbled to her feet, and ran from the cell, and the prison, and into the darkening streets of Gongmen City, running both blind, and with singular purpose. Perhaps there was no difference.

The crow, an passive observer as always, took flight, with a mission of it's own.

* * *

><p>Mei Ling stood on her balcony, watching the sun go down in the west, contemplating the events of that night. The tigress had told her to look for her sign, but what was that sign?<p>

Suddenly, there was a raucous _caw_ behind her.

Whirling, Mei Ling saw the crow. It fluttered it's wings, and watched her expectantly for a moment, before nosediving off the balcony, and into the street below. Mei Ling watched as it perched above a lantern. Waiting.

Racing in from the balcony, she knelt down in front of Xuě lì. "Xuě, Mama has to go out for a little while. She has to go see a friend."

Xuě lì looked at her mistrustfully. "Is this friend like Lu?"

Mei ling shook her head. "No, nothing like Lu. She's a very different kind of friend."

Xuě lì looked at her, and a flicker of recognition raced through her eyes. "The lady who came here looking for Lu?"

Mei Ling looked at her almost surprised. Had she encountered this strange woman? When? "Yes, that lady. I have to go see her. I'll be back soon, okay?"

"Okay, Mama," Xuě lì said, leaning over to wrap her little arms around Mei Ling's neck. "You go do what you have to do. Come back safe."

Mei Ling froze. It had been so long since she had hugged her daughter, it was almost a foreign notion. Almost hesitantly, she wrapped her arms around the girl. "I will."

With that, Mei Ling untangled herself from her daughter's arms and raced out the door, and into the streets. She caught sight of the bird, which took flight. Looking up, she gave chase.

* * *

><p>Zhenli sat outside of a noodle show watching with a vaguely amused expression as Huangyan used his chopsticks to doodle faces in his noodle. "Didn't your mother teach you not to play with your food?"<p>

"I paid for 'em," Huangyan protested, smiling. "I'll do what I damn well like with 'em."

Zhenli shook his head, and looked out across the street, to spot a leopardess racing down the sidewalk, looking upwards. Following her eyes, he caught sight of the crow.

"That's the bird," Zhenli said, watching it go.

Huangyan paused in the middle of making his caricature of Shen. "The what?"

"Come on!" Zhenli said, grabbing him by the forearm, dragging him from his seat, and down the street. "If we hurry we can follow them!"

"But my noodles!"

"Forget the noodles! You weren't eating them anyway!"

* * *

><p>Author's Note: And here it is! After months of being burned out, and unemotional, I AM BACK!<p>

For the record, I was using Huangyan as a bit of a mouth piece there. I've always been of the firm belief that if I pay for something, I'm gonna have some fun with it. I'll do a friggin' ventriloquist act with my Sonic cheeseburger. I'll hold a conversation with it, darn you. Just because I'm playing with it doesn't mean I won't eat it.

While I'm here, I might as well answer some viewer mail. So let's start with that big important question from an anonymous reviewer (I love you guys):

Is this an update in October story or is it dead?

No on both accounts. I simply got burned out, and had to take a hiatus. I hate that word by the way. Hiatus. Sounds like a medical condition.

Well, that's all I've really got to say. So, I'll let you get to reviewing. Or doing whatever it is you do at the end of a new chapter. I don't know, smoke a cigarette?

Insanely Yours,

Heir-to-the-throne


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